Cooking Tips & Recipe

i am a big fan of home made MHk too !!

mumusings, yes the Far East Plaza , eh still there ? i recalled having it like 10 over years ago, as our work place at orchard, so will walk there to eat.
Have you try the one at Whaompo market? there are two hawker center, one open in morning one at night. The morning one right at the end, think is called huang pu MHK, quite good.

Also one at Jurong Ave 1, blk 2xx, at the Zhu Lin coffee shop, this lady selling MHK also quite good. Weekend got to wait 20 to 30 min.
 


Thanks, Huskie for the link. Btw where u get the chilli flake ? must be the Korean type?
Eh you have alot of stock ? maybe can plan next week to pass me some.
Recently dh need to use car sometime i just let him send my ds2 there.

Here’s my habeehiam recipe:

Dried chilli 5-6
Red chilli – 4
Dried shrimp – 2 Tbsp
Garlic – 2 cloves
Red onion - 3
Candle nuts - 2
Belachan – 1cm
Cooking oil – 4 to 5 Tbsp
Salt & sugar

Wash all ingredient, soak the dried chilli, dried shrimp.
Use the food grinder or chopper to grind the dried chilli, red chilli, garlic, onion , candle nuts for form a chilli paste. Then grind shrimp separately.
Heat up oil and fry the chilli paste, after about 2 min, add in the dried shrimp continue to fry till fragrant.
Put salt and sugar for taste.
Tips from a friend, don’t put water, with oil it can last longer.
If you really have concern on the amount of oil,(frankly outside is worst…:p), you can try to adjust the oil used and can put bit of water, if not will be too dry.
 
can't play with dough these few days
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cut my hand while closing the window
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, then the first thing came to my mind is, aiyoh can't make bao or bread liao :D
I was looking for a plaster, search hign and low, only found those plaster for kids one, means bright colour with animal picture!
yesterday used a bright red with Hippo, today with a blue bear..
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Thanks Mumusings
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, just a small cut, but very inconvienient...
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Joy, haha are you a chilli queen also?

I love chilli too.

will try to share more when i start cooking some of those old and good recepi. Used to live with a lady from Penang, whao her sambal is the best ! but didn't cook for awhile some got to go try and recall how to cook.

I do recall one though, using green chilli.
This is how she do it, heat up 1 tbsp of oil in a pan or wok, put about 1 tbsp of salt, then throw in about 5 green chillie. Fry it till u see the outer skin shrink. Remove the chilli out from the pan.

Serve with white rice.

I recall i can eat 2 big bowl of rice with this...yummy !
 
Little cat,

Thanks for sharing again.

Not chillie queen lah, just that spicy dish got more taste mah...hahaha.

Wanna cook assam padas, but dont really know how...do u know?

Cheers
 
Musings,
Wow, thanks for all the detailed instructions and links to making the ultimate MHK!
I'll try it out next Wed and let you ladies know the result
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One more question: if the MHK dough can be kept for 5 days covered, do I keep it outside in room temperature or in the fridge?

Re agedashi tofu: I've made it successfuly before, to the extent that I think it's so expensive to pay $5 for a plate in restaurants.
You have to "drain" the tofu. When you pop the block out, you put a dry clean cloth over it, then put a plate on top of it. Leave it for abotu an hour or so, then you will find the tofu has shrunk a little and got some little holes in it. You cut it at this point then coat with cornflour and panfry. This way, tofu is not overly soft and watery to fry.

Littlecat,
I got the chili flakes from Shine. yeah, must use the Korean ones. I remember reading a recipe book saying that chinese and indian chili flakes taste different... more bitter I think.

Yes yes, I got a decently big batch of kimchi. I'll pass you a jar to try out and then you see if it's worth making it. A lot of people, especially Koreans, like it a certain way, and wouldn't eat other people's kimchi... so if it doesn't suit your taste, you may not want to waste your time.
E.g. the batch I made 2 yrs ago, my hubby found it too garlicky and spicy and didn't eat much of it.

You let me know which day you are sending ds. Otherwise I can pop by your estate to pass to you, since it's so close to C-O.
I also want drive around there to find the Yuhua Hawker centre which has very good zai beehoon (think I read from papers).

Wait for cut to heal before making dough... otherwise so painful. I'm not so worried about the food itself cos any germs would have been killed over high heat!

Thanks for haebeehiam recipe!

Joy,
Assam Padas is fish? The sourish one?

Talk about leaky celings... I just saw a big wet patch on my wall! Contractor came to see and says it's upstairs leaking... probably their pipe burst!

Tonight's dinner: Spicy Rabboki for hubby and me, and rice, devilled eggs, tofu, miso seaweed soup for kids.
 
Hi Huskie,

Leave MHK dough to set in a bowl covered with damp cloth in fridge. 5 days max 'cos there's egg/oil in there.

Hahaha... never going to do agedeshi. Too troublesome and hazardous. Totally can't handle soft tofu somehow. Thanks for the tips. Will ask hb to fry it next time instead 'cos he's the real chef at home
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Musings,
Someday I will try your MHK.

Hello Ladies, I made Sherperd's Pie over the weekend. But mine is not 'real' cos I use minced pork (instead of lamb or beef). Haha.. And mine is a bit anyhow in terms of the seasonings :p
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Hi Autum,

Yummmeee - love shepherd's pie!

Hi All,

Did some chicken curry (the shortcut way) for a potluck lunch. Someone thought I bought takeaway Muthu's... hahaha... must be the coconut milk and thickness of the gravy. http://mumusings.blogspot.com/2011/04/food-chicken-curry-almost-like-muthus.html

I'm allergic to lemongrass and blue ginger so didn't add these. The taste is pretty authentic, thanks to the readymix paste. Haven't had spicy curry for a long time - shiok
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Hello All!It's been a tiring and stressful week, after the mini reno in my kitchen, well, it wasn't a mini clean up tho..

mumusings! I did a teppanyaki style wagyu beef and it was GREAT! tks to your blog ;), wow! I shall try your muthu's curry chicken next week.Got so many dishes to try from your blog
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Hi Autumn, Your shepherd's pie looks good, it's my ang's favourite.. What seasoning you use for the pork? Can share your recipe? tks.. I only added tomatoes, worchestire sauce and pepper..

Husk, ya , my ceiling is leaking terribly, it's from the toilet upstairs. Something to do with their water proofing. Now waiting for them to hack their toilet tiles and re do again. Our toilet leaked downstairs 2 yrs ago and we also had to hack our toilet tiles. Super messy and dirty with the contractors walking in and out of the room..

Hi giggler!

The exam fever is raging and we have to keep cool.. think must boil more liang cha these few days..
 
Hi Choc,

Thanks! Great that it worked out! Can help put review of recipe on my blog? Hehehe...

Good luck with contractors. They can be a worse nightmare than the fixing needed.
 
Hello mumusings,
Thanks for sharing.

I would have bought it and make sweet and sour fish if i see this post earlier...Just too troublesome to handle fresh fish, washing etc...fighting for time, esp kid is having sa1 next week.

Cheers
Joy
 
Hi Joy,

Yes, cleaning fish is so troublesome and scary. Grouper is also usually very expensive so this is a nice product most people can afford.

Take care!
 
Hi Choc,
My shepherd's pie seasoning for the pork-n-veg as follows:
1 tbsp Bovril
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 big tsp Rosemary
1 big tsp Oregano
Sugar/pepper/salt - add to taste, but I think i didn't put those!

I was told that should add Thyme. And it seems rosemary and oregano is 'wrong'. haha.. but I like the taste of what I cooked.. so I guess you can season to how you like. I anyhow season de. :p

By the way ladies, I bought my dried herbs from Phoon Huat! I was quite surprised to find them in Phoon Huat. But it's much cheaper. I can't really tell the difference.. maybe true connosieurs can. But if you just want to try out and don't want to spend too much, you can try Phoon Huat. A bottle of Oregano is about $3+. If you buy from Cold Storage or NTUC, it's about $5+ for those MasterFoods or branded type. Phoon Huat ones are just packed in their own small plastic bottles.
 
My hb fried hokkien prawn mee on Saturday. It was surprisingly easy. Although this is still not as tasty as those hawkers' but it's quite nice for our first attempt :p

To cook, just fry the noodles with "stock". We shortcut a bit. We use the water that is used to boil the prawns and sotong, then added seasoning to it, to make "stock". We use the Hao Chi brand of seasoning. I think can actually make real stock, by using soup stock to boil the prawn heads etc.. but we shortcut la :p

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Hi Autum,

Been wanting to do Hokkien mee too but did Meehoonkaway first over the weekend. Will try this when I next find sotong
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Thanks. I have a pack of Hao Chi and now it's going to come in handy...
 
mumusings,
guess what, I got the Hao Chi satchets free from the chickens I bought from NTUC! haha. normally i won't buy this type of seasoning cos I am quite wary (msg, high salt etc).. but since i have them lying around, we just decided to use. by the way, we used 2 satchets! If u only have one satchet, then u might want to add some fish sauce. I think the actual recipe needs fish sauce.
 
Thanks for letting me know. I had a large pack free from buying 2 Scotts kitchen towels. Will snip off some grouper fillet and do stock (I think it's similar to my Putien bee hoon dish).

I've watched the hawkers do Hokkien mee before. I think they fry the garlic, add stock (so I'll put sotong, prawns, seasong and a bit of fish), throw in the noodles etc, spring onion and then knock in an egg at the end.

What I really want to do is char kway teow. My only time doing this is Sec 2 Home econs and that's like 2 decades ago...
 
Hello All!
Autumn, Thanks for sharing your recipe. Hehe.. My family loves bovril, and my hb loves drinking bovril soup( bovril+hot water).. Sometimes when I have no idea what to cook, I mix bovril with bit of onion oil and mix it with hot rice.. And also, frying beef kuay teow with bovril and oyster sauce..

mumusings, wow! your hokkein mee looks very pro!I can almost smell the "wok hei" from the photo.. haha..
Watched the royal wedding too, it's just so beautiful.. I just pray and hope this couple will last forever. Read the Mich and Sh divorce news, wonder whether they remembered the day they took the vow, the promise to have and hold.. each other.. till death do they part.. It's a mockery to the institute of marriage.. Before that was J yeo and G ong..
It definitely takes lots of effort to keep a marriage going.

Tonight's menu is 3 cups chicken, spinach with silver baits, fenge soup and thinking about the 3rd dish.
What are you all cooking?
 
Hi Choc,

Hokkien mee was Autum's... hehehe I haven't ventures into the dish yet.

For some strange reason I'm feeling lethargic this week so not much cooking/eating for me. Just eating fruits, drinking and largely takeaway. Unthinkable, right? Hb has been cooking his own meals the way he likes it (eg. poached eggs with sardine/Vienna sausages). Fried some whitebait yesterday and that was about it. I'm taking a one-week 'break' from everything
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Labour Day holidays at mumusings'.
 
Hi Mummies! I've been missing for a while...

Talking about MHK, I've been cooking that very often as DH likes. I just add some salt to water, stir in flour and let it stand for at least 1/2 hour in room temp. But if I add in an egg, I will keep in the fridge. No tedious kneading needed, just use a pair of chopsticks to stir and stop when it forms into a dough. Very simple.

Autum,
I also cook my own hokkien mee. Those stall bought, so ex, $3.50/pack and only 2 pathetic prawns. And when I cook this at home, I add in some veggies too.

For those interested, can view my recipe here. http://blessedhomemaker.blogspot.com/2010/07/fried-hokkien-prawn-noodles.html

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Hi ladies,
I've also been MIA for awhile.
After ds got well,dd got cough and somehow passed it back to ds again. And this time, doc says can hear phlegm in lungs! Plus he had diarrhoea for the last 3 days (still having a little now), which doc says is viral infection in small intestines.

Littlecat,
Sorry I haven't had chance to pass chili powder to you. Next week when ds gets better ok?

These few days I've been cooking simple stuff - today a one-pot chinese cabbage soup with scallops and fishballs.
 
Hi,

Been totally off-cooking for the past 10 days. No appetite, thanks to the heat.

New discovery. Mushrooms in very cute shapes... saw these at Hougang Mall a few days ago and bought 3 packs to try. Very nice texture and no wastage 'cos they're very clean. Wish they'd provided a name to the species.

http://mumusings.blogspot.com/2011/05/singapore-grown-mushrooms.html

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Anyone knows what these are called? Pan-fried them with oyster sauce + sesame oil to go with tofu-burgers.
 
Hi ladies,
Everyone is busy with kids' SA yeah?
Hope your kids did OK!

musings,
I finally made MHK today!
I'm not sure if it's a success or if it's good, because I have never tasted it before.

It's sort of chewy yeah? or maybe my dough is too thick? I tried to "pull" it longer and thinner, but after cooking, somehow it looks lumpy and thick huh? I enjoyed the dish very much, although I think my soup is a little bland and ikan bilis not that tasty. But I think the shallots saved the dish!

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Hello ALL PEOPLE, TGIF!
Finally the exams are over, very stressful week esp for dd1 n me
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, been a study mama for these 2 weeks. Tr rushing thru the syllabus, what most ppl need to cover in 3 weeks, the tr used 6 periods and sum it all! So, on our part, got to slowly let dd swallow and digest the facts/practises. Got to do something to my OR BAK KUK before it worsens.. haha..

Husk, yes, the MHK is like that. If you like it more tasty, can also add some fish sauce. I like chewy MHK.. Yours looks delicious leh. I have been using sayur manis for the soup and it's very sweet..

Oh solly autumn, your hokkien mee looks great, you know what? I did a hokkien mee on monday too, was very stingy with my liao, so it looked very pale.. Also did a shepherd's pie on wed dinner, anyhow hun tum ketchup, worchestire sauce, salt into the minced beef..

Mumusings, hope you are feeling better, ya, this heat is killing me too, eh, the mushrooms look so cute leh, my dd3 loves mushrooms! Shall go hunt for this cute mushrooms..

Didn't cook any special dish last week, but did a chayote, carrot , corn and sea kelp soup, thought it was nice and refreshing. Tks to cat's idea for adding sea kelp into soup, the soup is really very "smooth"..
Also made some chrysanthemum, yang shen drink for everybody..

Hello joy, how are you?
 
Hi choc06,
I hear u, and am here.
Today dd just finished main papers for sa1, one more chinese compo to go.Cannot ask her to study today cos all the brain cells are killed by math today...

Have not been cooking for the whole week, cos focus is on dd, and only cook very simple lunch for both(not considered as cooking tho).Most dinner are tabao.

Tonight, going out for a feast...

cheers
 
Hi Huskie,

Congrats. Your MHK looks fine to me. Did you let it 'set' for a while before cooking it? Yup. Can't do without the shallots oil. Authentic MHK comes in plain soup. Sweetness is from the prawns, pork, veg and shallots oil
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Your shallots oil look great. You can use the oil/shallots to put over boiled kailan/chyesim etc. I don't waste any bit of it 'cos so much tears go into it - hahahaha...

Hi Choc,

Chrysanthemum's a good idea.... how do you make chrysanthemum drink? Just boil flowers with rock sugar? Only know how to do sugar cane drink and barley. Mushrooms were bought at Hock Hwa fair at Hougang Mall. 3 packs for S$8. Very nice texture and doesn't get slimy/soft. And no parts of it is wasted. Always end up cutting off more than I should for enoki and shimeji. The woody parts frighten me....

Hi Joy,

Good to hear you have a feast to enjoy. No appetite here. Just eating lots of fruits and little food
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Choc,
I've never eaten sayur manis before. Will try it tomorrow cos I've still got some MHK left in the fridge.

Joy,
Have a great feast!

musings,
Yep, I let the MHK rest for 30 mins. And in the afternoon around 3pm, I couldn't resist it and made another bowl again... same texture. So I guess like what Choc and you say, this must be it
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I love shallots oil too, and yes, I agree it's such a painful process to make our own. And I am like your mum, every one has to be cut into nice rings :p

I make chrysanthemum konnyaku jelly when weather is too hot... think I read it from Reena's blog... dd likes it cos she basically likes all jellies.

I didn't know Hock Hwa sells fresh mushrooms? I was looking at the pics in your blog, and comparing with the pics on their website at http://www.mycofarm.com.sg/ but don't seem to find anything similar.
My kids don't really like mushrooms. DH only likes the angmoh button/swiss brown/portobello ones... furthest he will venture is enoki and shitake. He doesn't really like oyster mushrooms so I hardly cook that kind.
 
Hi Huskie,

It was a HockHwa fair but has a corner for mushrooms. Maybe they're diversifying. This brand carries fresh black fungus and abalone mushrooms too. I like myecofarm mushrooms too. My hb is a mushroom fanatic. I don't like the gas-smell of Chinese mushrooms (the smell you get after soaking them in water) - my mom/grandma were perpetually soaking mushrooms and scallops all the time so I refrain from using these although they're supposed to be expensive. I like the modern day mushrooms better
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Cheap and tasty.

Wow - your shallot rings must have taken time to cut. I don't care - just slice, use fingers to separate. Just get it over as fast as I can with as little tears as possible. Hahahaha... Only cooked MHK for grandma once but asked my mom to do the rings.

If you want ban mian - flatten dough, freeze it 10 mins, grease knife and cut into strips. Food republic sells dao-xiao-mian (knife-cut-noodles). I see them hold a huge block of dough and gently shave pieces into boiling water. Similar taste - except their stock is beef/sichuan style.
 
Hello huskie,mumusings,
Thank you.We were at tony romas, our usual dining place.

Now, back to our chinese compo exam revision...one more paper to go, and next wed will be our marking day,but I think teachers already finished marking the exam papers by this weekend.

Who is cooking today?

Cheers
 
Hi All,

Cooked the above mushrooms with french beans and sotong using Korean bean paste and oyster sauce this morning
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Takeaway beef stew for dinner to go with steamed cabbage and white radish.
 
Hi all,

Don't know if it's just me or my destructive ways... how long do your woks/pans last? I use mine at least thrice everyday and have to change one every 6 months. Is that too frequent? Got a shock looking at my Tefal (bought in Sept 2010). Rusting and no more non-stick. Maybe it's the arrowhead crisps (was frying it hours for nearly 3 weeks before CNY).

http://mumusings.blogspot.com/2011/05/home-mumusings-65-how-long-do-pots-last.html

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Thank Goodness found a Supor 28cm with glass cover at S$14.99 2 weeks back just in time to replace the Tefal.
 
Hello all,

Finally, school holidays is here.Time to unwind and also for children to brush up their weaker areas for studies.Besides studies, any holiday plans?

Littlecat
What happen to sa1?Which level is that?

Meet the teacher session
Did anyone meet up with the teachers?


Cheers
Joy
 
Hi mummies,
Must be such a relief that kids' exams are over huh?

I haven't been logging in much cos busy cooking for recovering kids
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plus my vessel in eye burst, so in no mood to face computer too.

Reena,
Hope you've found a lawyer, but like what Littlecat says, I don't remember any lawyers in cooking thread, unless any one of the newcomers is?

Littlecat,
I am reading through the link.
Though I am still digesting the first part about the skews etc (haha, I am not very good with stats stuff... gotta ask hubby tonight), I do agree with the later paragraphs about our education system becoming a frenziedly speeding train. I believe the worst thing one can do to a child is to destroy his self-esteem, and because our system has this streaming system at a tender young age, I think some late developers' self esteem will probably be affected. Of course one may argue that late developers can still pick up and catch up in sec sch, but if their esteem has already been destroyed, and if they are not strong enough, it will be hard for them too.

And coincidentally, justa few days ago, I was talking to hubby about how the underprivileged in SG may not be able to afford enrichment classes and how our exams are such that if you do not have enrichment, it'll be tough to score well like during our time. Makes it harder for the underprivileged in our society to climb out of their underprivileged class through education now.

I just found out my cousin-in-law migrated about 10ys ago because his dd2 is a little slow (he is frank to admit that himself), and that the education system here wasn't suitable for her. She comes home from school crying everyday because she cannot catch up with schoolwork. So they took the plunge and left for Australia as he didn't want his kids to grow up just smart academically but empty in confidence... he also wants his kids to have a proper childhood. Now his dd2 is doing OK, a very confident and articulate young lady at 19yo, doing her nursing degree. She is also more of a hands-on creative person, preferring to work on food and crafts rather than studying theories.

Joy,
How did your dd do?
 
Hello Huskie,

I have friends that did the same way like your cousin in law too.It works out well.

Yes, singapore is a paper chased society, work getting tougher and tougher for pri kids especially.

Thanks for asking, dd managed to come in second this time round.Just hope she can maintain and keep up her pace all the way to psle.

cheers
 
Hi Little Cat and Huskie,

Did you read about the 13-year old boy who fake pitiful state to get people to give him pedigree pets which he in turn sold away? It's no longer just a paper-chase society here but one where many kids are brought up to see money as being above all. Very sad to see such news. There was this constant harping on entrepreneurship and kids making money from re-selling stationery items to friends (perhaps the boy thought he was being creative/enterprising??).

The chase for being IT-savvy is going to be another possible disaster. Being computer literate is important but school needs to focus on the basics especially from kindergarten till P4. Relevant skills, confidence, social interaction and more healthy involvement through sports, games and field trips.

These days people are so hooked on facebook and iPhones - I can't imagine how it'll be in another ten years time if there is increasing emphasis on having computer-based learning and whatnots. Will we have a generation of gadget-crazy youungsters who are detached from the world/feelings/families, preferring to game/interact/work online?


I personally hope my son to grow up healthy, happy and meaningfully engaged. Letting him play all he likes all day at the moment and sneaking in a few alphabets 10-15 minutes twice daily through play, picture books and flipping through brochures in the mailbox. I definitely don't want to breed another one of those paper-scholars, or arrogant professionals with crookish minds who seize every chance to over-charge and profiteer without batting an eyelid.
 
Joy,
Congrats to your dd! Hope she continues to do well.

musings,
I didn't read about the 13-yo boy... so sad that our society is becoming so materialistic.
One thing I like about dd's current school is they teach the kids that they can make things instead of always buying. They're also into recycling,so recently dd has called herself the "recycling auntie" and goes around the flat looking for old items to give a new lease of life.

Our recent homemade "board game" with a homemade die that makes rattling sound
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Hi Huskie,

Link to the article about the teenager: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_672810.html

Lovely board game. I remember trying to make my own Monopoly game once - gave up making the many pieces of fake money!!!! Hahaha... suddenly remember that attempt after reading your post. Great idea. I might just use the floor tiles and one of those boxes to make a huge dice when my son's able to count and play board games.
 
Mumusings,

Any good buy in shengsiong lately?

Huskie
Thanks.Just hope she maintain.Pacing up all the way to PSLE is the toughest job.

Have a good day ladies, I will be heading to school open house later today....

cheers
Joy
 


Hi Joy,

Other than the last time I found the frozen grouper, I haven't had energy/time to go too far out... Cold Storage + shopnSave have been having good deals lately.
 

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